ten aloft, the whole picture of supply for the Platform had
changed.

Part of the new picture was two devices that Haney and the Chief were
assembling. They were mostly metal backbone and a series of tanks, with
rocket motors mounted on ball and socket joints. They looked like huge
red insects, but they were officially rocket recovery vehicles, and
Joe's crew referred to them as space wagons. They had no cabin, but
something like a saddle. Before it there was a control-board complete
with radar-screens. And there were racks to which solid-fuel rockets of
divers sizes could be attached. They were literally short-range tow
craft for travel in space. They had the stripped, barren look of farm
machinery. So the name "space wagon" fitted. There were two of them.

"We're putting the pair together," the Chief told Joe. "Looks kinda
peculiar."

"It's only for temporary use," said Joe. "There's a bigger and better
one being built with a regular cabin and hull. But some experience with
these two will be useful in running a regular space tug."

The Chief said with a trace too much of casualness: "I'm kind of looking
forward to testing this."

"No," said Joe doggedly. "I'm responsible. I take the first chance. But
we should all be able to handle them. When this is assembled you can
stand by with the second one. If the first one works all right, we'll
try the second."

The Chief grimaced, but he went back to the assembly of the spidery
device.

Joe got out the gravity-simulator harnesses. He showed Brent how they
worked. Brown hadn't official instructions to order their use, but Joe
put one on himself, set for full Earth-gravity simulation. He couldn't
imitate actual gravity, of course. Only the effect of gravity on one's
muscles. There were springs and elastic webbing pulling one's shoulders
and feet together, so that it was as much effort to stand extended--with
one's legs straight out--as to stand upright on Earth. Joe felt better
with a pull on his body.

Brent was upset when he found that to him more than a tenth of normal
gravity was unbearable. But he kept it on at that. If he increased the
pull a very little every day, he might be able to return to Earth, in
time. Now it would be a very dangerous business indeed. He went off to
put the other members of the crew in the same sort of harness.

After ten hours, a second drone broadcaster went off into space. By that
time the articulated red frameworks were assembled.